Many people new to studying the language wonder why Turkish uses the Latin alphabet instead of an Arabic script. Briefly, the modern Turkish alphabet was designed in 1928 as part of a larger language reform to convert the older Ottoman script into a simpler and more modern writing system. The Ottoman Turkish alphabet was used during the Ottoman Empire for hundreds of years, however, the founding father of the modern Turkish Republic, Kemal Atatürk, led efforts to reform and modernize many aspects of language and culture. Switching to a Latin alphabet was one of many such reforms.
So, if you’re curious about what older Turkish writing was like, along with how and why it switched to its modern form, keep reading to learn it all!
Old Ottoman Turkish Alphabet
The Ottoman Turkish alphabet, used from the inception of the Ottoman Empire until approximately 1919, was primarily based on the Arabic script and had 32 letters. This alphabet, known as the Ottoman Turkish script, incorporated elements of the Persian and Arabic languages with a few extra letters and sounds. Historically, Turkic languages gradually adopted the Arabic script as different groups adopted Islam. And, by the forming of the Ottoman Empire at the end of the 13th century, Ottoman Turkish with this alphabet became standardized as the prestige dialect amongst upper-class citizens.
So, if you were not an elite subject of the Ottoman Empire, you probably did not use Ottoman Turkish or its alphabet. Especially amongst lower-class Turks with less education, a language known as kaba Türkçe (raw Turkish) was used. It more resembled modern Turkish since it had fewer Persian and Arabic loanwords. There is no straightforward correspondence between the Ottoman Turkish script and the modern Turkish Latin alphabet. Plus, like Arabic today, you read Ottoman Turkish writing from right to left.
What Was Before Ottoman Scripts?
Before the Ottoman Empire and its writing, languages from the Turkic family go back centuries. There are over 35 languages in this family, and the earliest written record comes from a nomadic Turkic group in the eighth century AD called the Göktürks. Their Orkhon inscriptions on stone monuments outline the old Turkic script and represent the earliest known form of an old Turkic language.
Here are a few examples of symbols from this old Turkish alphabet:
by Abdugafur A. Rakhimov
When Did the Ottoman Empire End?
Considering how epic and long-reigning the Ottoman Empire was, its downfall deserves more than a paragraph. However, to understand the Turkish language history, know that the empire’s ending is largely due to its siding with the Central Powers during World War I. After the Allied forces won, the Ottoman Empire became disintegrated. Between 1919 and 1922, Mustafa Kemal Atatürk led Turkish nationalists to win the Turkish War of Independence and form the Republic of Turkey (Türkiye Cumhuriyeti) in 1923.
The last Ottoman Sultan, Mehmed VI, went into exile and the Ottoman Caliphate was abolished. Over the next several years, Atatürk led many legal and cultural reforms, which included reforming the language to become the modern Turkish that we know today.
Why Does Turkish Use the Latin Alphabet? Atatürk Reforms 101
As part of his vision for a modern, secular, and Western-oriented Turkey, Atatürk aimed to break with the Ottoman past and eliminate perceived impediments to progress. One significant reform was the adoption of the Latin alphabet, replacing the Perso-Arabic script that had been used for centuries.
The Republic of Turkey was formed in 1923, but it was not until the end of the decade that the switch to a Latin alphabet became official. A 1928 law called the Adoption and Implementation of the Turkish Alphabet officially changed the Turkish alphabet to its current Latin script, and it became mandatory to use the new writing system on January 1, 1929. Besides the alphabet, further changes and improvements continued to be made to the Turkish language. Led by the Turkish Language Association, the focus was to replace loanwords from Arabic and Persian to purify the language with a Turkish identity.
Challenges of Switching to a Latin Alphabet
As you can imagine, converting the Ottoman Turkish alphabet to Latin was no simple process. Firstly, the Ottoman alphabet was complex and evolved over time. Multiple characters could represent a single Turkish sound. In other situations, the Arabic script could not properly signify certain Turkish vowels or differentiate them from similar sounds. For example, Ottoman Turkish writing could not visually show the difference between front and back vowels, something crucial to the vowel harmony characteristic of Turkish.
Additionally, the Ottoman script included diacritical marks and ligatures specific to Arabic script, which had to be addressed in the conversion process. Sounds unique to Ottoman Turkish had to be carefully reformed so that the new Latin symbols could capture them, especially if they wanted the new alphabet to have a consistent phonetic pronunciation.
Another challenge was the low literacy levels in the general population. To successfully launch and enforce a new alphabet took a lot of effort. Education and public awareness campaigns were needed to sell people on the idea and convert them to using the new script. Lastly, a major challenge was the resistance Atatürk’s government faced from conservative people who did not want to break from the traditions and religious practices of the past.
Reasons and Benefits for Switching to the Latin Alphabet
Often called the “letter revolution,” or harf devrimi in Turkish, this alphabet change also had a range of reasons and benefits. On the practical side, the Arabic script had problems representing Turkish vowels. The Ottoman alphabet was also much more difficult to learn for Turks who weren’t amongst the educated upper class. However, modern Turkish writing with the Latin alphabet made it much more accessible to everyone. Literacy rates increased, and the educational system was able to unify under one simpler script, allowing more people to write successfully.
Additionally, having a standardized language shared across the country was a crucial step in unifying the diverse regions and cultures under one umbrella. This cultural unity largely relied on breaking with the Ottoman past in favor of a more modern secular culture. And, changing the language into the more modern Latin script was a crucial step in that process.
The Latin alphabet also provided a linguistic bridge to connect with European languages, making it easier for Turkey to engage in international trade, diplomacy, and cultural exchanges. On the practical side, updating an alphabet, tough as it may be in the moment, comes with the benefit of hindsight. Since you can learn from the mistakes of past alphabets, you can design a new alphabet to be as consistent and simple as possible. I would say that the incredibly consistent phonetics of the modern Turkish alphabet means that the process was successful!
Technical linguistic considerations aside, this change fits in with Atatürk’s broader reform efforts to secularize and modernize Turkey. Changing the alphabet became a symbol of a progressive Turkey, improving the legal system, granting women the right to vote, and improving education.
Latin-Based Turkish Is Easier To Learn
The most relevant benefit of the Latin alphabet for learning the Turkish language is that it is significantly easier for English speakers to learn. Yes, there are subtle differences in the pronunciation of letters, and they had to add six letters that we do not have in English. Some of those sounds are not natural to English and can take some practice. However, anyone with experience learning another European language should find Turkish learning to be straightforward in terms of letters and pronunciation.
Personally, once I became familiar with it, I found the consistent phonetics of the Turkish characters to be even easier and more predictable than English. English is filled with so many rules and exceptions, including letter combinations that make new sounds and totally unexpected pronunciations. However, with rare exceptions, Turkish follows a phonetic system where you sound out every letter in a word.
Refer to this Turkish alphabet guide to see all the letters in action, including audio pronunciation of each letter with an example.
Critics of the Change
While the Turkish switch to a Latin alphabet may seem obviously good nearly 100 years later, Atatürk’s government faced resistance. Firstly, traditionalists opposed the change because they saw it as a break from the cultural and religious elements of their past. Even if they agreed on creating a unified national identity, they did not want to detach from the historical and cultural legacy of their Ottoman heritage. For them, the Arabic-based script was a symbol of this connection to the Ottoman Empire.
So, despite Atatürk’s goal of unification, there were concerns a new alphabet could create a cultural disconnect and contribute to a loss of national identity. Additionally, adapting existing texts would be difficult, and the extensive re-education might not work as planned. Some opponents had more practical concerns about whether a Latin script could successfully capture Turkish phonemes. They insisted that modifying the existing Ottoman script would be better.
Final Thoughts
The transition of Turkish from the Ottoman script to the Latin alphabet signifies a significant historical shift. While delving into the intricacies of this transformation may require a more thorough exploration of Turkish history than I can cover here, I think it’s safe to say that the successful conversion to the Latin alphabet played a crucial role in modernizing Turkey and aligning it with the global linguistic and cultural developments of the time.
In today’s world, it also means that learning Turkish is much more accessible than it would have been!
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FAQs
Why doesn’t Turkey use Arabic script?
The old Turkish alphabet during Ottoman times was a Perso-Arabic script that combined Persian and Arabic characters. However, modern Turkey does not use Arabic script because it switched to the Latin alphabet in 1928 as part of a larger language reform effort led by Mustafa Kemal Atatürk after the founding of the modern Turkish Republic.
Why did Turkey switch to the Latin alphabet?
Turkey switched to the Latin alphabet in 1928 as part of a language reform initiative whose goal was to modernize and simplify the writing system. The belief was that by switching to a Latin alphabet, literacy would increase and diverse regions across Turkey would unify under one system.
Can modern Turks understand the Ottoman Turkish script?
Since there are significant differences between modern and Ottoman Turkish, most Turkish speakers cannot understand or read Ottoman writing, words, and pronunciation. However, specialized individuals or academics in linguistic studies may have some skills in reading and comprehending old Ottoman scripts.
